Problem: $b(n) = -8 - 2(n - 1)$ Find the $9^\text{th}$ term in the sequence.
Explanation: This is an explicit formula. All we have to do is plug $n=9$ in the formula to find the $9^\text{th}$ term. $\begin{aligned} b({9}) &= -8 - 2 ({9} - 1) \\\\ &= -24 \end{aligned}$ The $9^\text{th}$ term is $-24$.